Tag Archives: the left

Following the news this week about Donald Trump’s announcement that the US will formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital I am reminded of an old story about a Jewish court presided over by a wise Rav who can see all sides of an issue. After one side presents its case to the Rav he proclaims ‘you’re right!’ The second side then presents its view of the case, in direct opposition to their opponent’s. After carefully listening, the Rav proclaims ‘you’re right!’ A second member of the court leans forward, saying ‘But Rav, they can’t both be right.’ At which point the Rav exclaims ‘You’re right too!’

So it is with Israel, Jerusalem its capital, the Palestinians, the (largely moribund) Peace Process and the way these issues are viewed by the right (in a political sense) and the left. Both sides are a bit right (in the sense of being correct!), and both a bit wrong.

First the left. The left is correct in that Trump’s move leaves Israel more isolated internationally, and potentially more exposed to violence internally. En masse the western nations Israel would like to have a good relationship with have sharply criticized this week’s announcement, to include Great Britain, France, and Germany. The left is also correct in that they continue to wrestle with the moral compromises required to maintain control of the Palestinian population in the West Bank (now nearly 3 million strong). And they are right when they say that the continued buildup of settlements over the green line is making it harder and harder to one day separate the two peoples.

But they are also wrong. It no longer makes sense to say that this declaration will destroy the Peace Process. There is effectively no Peace Process at this point, and although you can point to the Netanyahu administration to explain this, the truth is the Palestinian leadership is just as much to blame, if not more so. Besides, as many on the right have pointed out, the US refrained from making this change for decades, and it never helped to move along peace negotiations. A better message from the left would have been ‘Yes of course Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, and we are grateful the US has formally recognized this. But we also want to remind everyone that if Israel is ever going to have a chance at peace with the Palestinians we have to be prepared to accept a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.’ The fact that the left is unable to say this is an illustration of how ideologically inflexible the lines have become, and of how difficult it is for people to view these issues with a sense of complexity and nuance.

The right, for its part, is also correct and incorrect in its reaction to Trump’s announcement. They are of course correct in stating the obvious – Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, and that is not going to change. Everyone knows that, even the Palestinians, so why not just come out and state the obvious? They are also correct in pointing out that the Palestinians have been poor peace partners, never wasting an opportunity to waste an opportunity. Last (but certainly not least) they are right when they remind us that Israel is commonly held to higher standards and expectations by the international community than just about any other country on the world scene. All true.

But the right is wrong as well. They are conveniently ignoring the real problem, which is the rapidly growing Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza. Trump’s statement does nothing to help Israel cope with that existentially threatening elephant in the room. It certainly does not advance the idea of peace in any way, and it also in all likelihood removes the US as a trusted broker in any future negotiations that might take place. If you have a US embassy in Jerusalem surrounded by one large territory that is controlled by Israel but is majority Palestinian in terms of its population, that is not a good place to be. And yet it sometimes seems that Bibi and his right leaning cabinet are determined to take that path.

At the end of the day Jewish groups both right and left have almost overwhelmingly embraced Trump’s statement, as they should. How can we reject something we have waited so long to hear? But it is difficult to swallow so much snake oil just to get to the sweet taste at the bottom of the bottle.